Lietaert, Ine

Ine Lietaert is a Professorial Fellow at UNU-CRIS since November 2018. After Ine Lietaert attained her degree as Master in Social Work, she worked at the asylum and migration department of an INGO. After a couple of years of practical experience, she returned to Ghent University and completed her PhD on the return and reintegration processes of assisted returnees from Belgium to Georgia and Armenia. Before joining UNU-CRIS, she worked as post-doc research on the Childmove ERC project (Ghent University), investigating the trajectories and wellbeing of unaccompanied refugee minors moving through Europe.

At UNU-CRIS, Ine Lietaert coordinates the Migration and Social Policy research track. She supports PhD students, interns and research staff with researches related to the impact of international/regional and national policies on social work, social support practices and wellbeing, with particular focus on the governance of ‘mobile’ groups in vulnerable situations, such as asylum seekers, return migrants and (internally) displaced persons. Her work also focusses on the impact of mobility and different types of borders and policies on the lives of vulnerable people. Her dual affiliation (Social Work/Regional Integration) facilitates an unique research focus which enables to bring in attention for social welfare and wellbeing into the latter, and attention for regional actors and geopolitical relations in the former. Ine Lietaert also teaches International Social Work at Ghent University.